The Czech Republic announced Wednesday that it will extend its temporary border checks with Slovakia until February 2 in order to combat irregular migration and people smuggling, news agency Agence France Press (AFP) reported on January 3.
According to Vit Rakusan, Czech Republic Interior Minister, police has checked over 680,000 people since introducing checks inearly October, stopping more than 1,120 migrants and detaining 58 smugglers.
“We are reacting to the situation in neighboring states, which have taken the step earlier,” Rakusan told reporters.
Austria had already announced an extension of its intensified border checks until February 3, and Poland announced that it would also extend these operation until February 1.
In October, Slovakia’s neighbors on its western and northern borders had set up temporary border checks to stop the entry of irregular migrants coming mostly via Serbia and Hungary.
The border checks were initially intended to be for one month but have since been extended several times.
Migrant smuggling: A multi-billion euro business
The movement of an estimated 90% of irregular migrants is facilitated through smugglers.
But as human smuggling is a criminal activity, actual numbers are hard to pin down; however, the European Union’s (EU) law enforcement agency Europol estimates that there are 15,000 human smugglers actively trying to bring people to Europe today.
According to Europol, the smuggling of irregular migrants is a multi-billion euro business that includes activities like transporting migrants within Europe or from/via the EU to another region or country — or a combination of the aforementioned.
This transport of irregular migrants often involves a network of organized facilitators who operate in various industries, including the hospitality and transport sectors; they tend to offer service across all points of the migration route, starting from the country of origin until the country of destination.
Members in the network may be involved on a permanent or ad hoc (temporary) basis, such as in the case of transport from one destination to another.
“A key characteristic of criminal networks is their agility and adaptability in response to changing dynamics in irregular migration, law enforcement,” reads the latest Europol report on migrant smuggling networks.
Despite this, national governments like the Czech Republic try to disrupt smugglers using measures including the border checks — with limited success.
Also read: A look at the deadliest migrant suffocation incidents
Combining efforts to counter human smuggling
In November, European member states and partner countries came together to forge the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling.
The global pact proposes a set of legislative measures and policies that include strengthening the capacity of Europol as a law enforcement agency, introducing stiffer penalties for aggravated offenses (including the death of one or more persons in migration), as well as improved data collection and sharing across countries.
At the conference, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Council, said that countries should also focus on promoting alternatives to irregular migration.
“Legal migration can be an opportunity for all … In Europe, labor and skills shortages have reached record levels. In other continents, there are millions of people who seek to work and learn. And we must manage this in a way that is safe, humane, and mutually beneficial,” said von der Leyen.
Europe’s deadliest migrant suffocation incidents
The lack of safety along irregular journeys meanwhile is well-documented. In addition to the threat of drowning in sea crossings, border crossings on land also come with their own risks.
Across Europe, a number of migrants have perished during dangerous journeys. While there are many reports of fatal car crashes, there is also the worrying trend of dying from suffocation while crammed in trucks or other similar vehicles.
In 2015, Austrian police discovered an abandoned truck containing the bodies of 71 Iraqi, Syrian, and Afghan migrants who had died from suffocation. Eight children were among those who were found dead in the truck which had crossed into Austria from Hungary.
Last year, a UK court sentenced a member of an alleged international human smuggling ring to 12 years of prison for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants, who had suffered a similar fate: The clandestine passengers of a truck were found to have died from suffocation just outside London in October 2019.